Steelblade
by daringtodreamm
Summary: The Hunger Games  book one only, more when I've read more  told from the POV of a District 12 OC. Probably friendship with Katniss to come, and possibly a crush on Gale. Haven't decided. Opening scene really good! Please R&R for me and help me with ideas!


**A/N: Okay, so. I know this is probably going to be inaccurate at points, but I've only just read the first book. Started it last night, finished it this morning. :) Couldn't put it down, fell in love. So, anyway. Told from the point of an OC, Katniss and Gale probably a little OOC, Peeta and the Games soon to come, depending on what I decide to make this. I'd love feedback, please let me know if something's wrong: but pleeease don't spoil anything for me that's in books 2 and 3! This is just from what I know about book 1. Don't know if I should keep it as a one-shot, add more... not exactly sure what the plan is from here. I'd love suggestions. :)**

**Disclaimer: Even with the odds ever in my favor, the only things in here that are mine are the OCs.**

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><p>It's always so quiet before the kill: a silence so loud and heavy it rings in your ears. You could hear a pin drop. Not like you'd ever let that distract you, though.<p>

A young fawn grazes near a patch of greening grass, seeming to have lost its way from its mother. Its gracefulness is evident in how it holds itself, eating bites of roots off the soft ground in chunks, but never moving more than a few steps at a time, with confidence. I slowly step out from the tree I chose to hide behind and even in hard leather boots me feet do not make a sound. Neither do my long and deep breaths that take in the pine scented fresh air of the forest around me. I'm light on the ground; I'm almost a part of the forest itself. I was born a hunter.

The fawn senses my presence and looks up, suddenly. Its brown orbs, full of fear, lock into a gaze with my calm blue eyes, and before it even has time to register the fact that I'm dangerous, my hands are going. One swift movement, without even breaking eye-contact with the fawn; I grab a steel arrow from the matching quiver slung over my shoulder that my father had traded most of his earnings for on my twelfth birthday years ago, hitch the arrow onto the smooth wooden bow I fashioned that day to go along with my gift (it's my most precious treasure) pull it tight by my ear, and release. The arrow whooshes past my face and within a split second the deer is collapsed on the forest floor, dead. My almost flawless aim leads me, in one fast shot, to hit the fawn straight through the heart.

A small pang of guilt twinges in me, as it always does when I've taken the life of such an innocent young animal. However, I know I am hunting for food- not for sport- and that settles my mind about it, making my stomach rumble in anticipation. Deer are a rarity in these parts of the woods outside District 12. I'll probably be able to trade some meat in the Hob, the black market of the District, for spices, and bread, and other add-ins, and my whole family will have a meal tonight if we save half the deer's meet for ourselves. Knowing I can't carry the fawn all the way to the Hob myself, I drag the carcass into a nearby tree hollow covered by foliage and mark the tree with a large cut down the middle from a jagged knife I keep in a sheath on my soft, brown leather belt, my thirteenth birthday present. Even though I'm on the edge of starvation, I consider myself one of the lucky ones of District 12. I have the blessing to be able to walk around with some nice things, especially when I hunt.

I decide I'll bring my older brother back out here at nightfall to conceal the fact that I've been illegally hunting outside the District, and also we're not swarmed by other hungry District-members when they see the fresh pounds of meat. He'll help me carry the heavy thing into the market. Tonight, he, my father, and I will share what could be considered a banquet of food compared to what I knew the rest of the District would be scrapping up for supper.

I'm so excited to find my brother and tell him what I'd shot down that I bolt back towards the direction of the District border fence, giggling as I go, giddy about what full stomachs we'd find ourselves with after tonight's meal.

I'm not paying attention, a fatal, rookie mistake. My foot snags in a trap of some sorts and I come crashing down to the ground with a thud, knowing there must be dirt and mud and grass stains all over my tan "outdoor" pants, and light green polo shirt. I groan. I specifically hand-wash these clothes nightly, since they are the only decent clothes I own and my most favorite, too; I wear them out hunting almost every day.

Off in the distance, I hear a man's voice yelling, "Hey! Think I've got something big, by the sound of it!" and footsteps thundering towards where I lay. "Look, it's-"

An eighteen year old boy I immediately recognize appears out of the vegetation and his lips curl upwards in a grin that clearly says "gotcha".

"Well, well. Seems like I'm cooking myself a Skeeter Steelblade tonight!"

"Shut up, Gale," I bite back and stand, untying my ankles from the trap he'd set to catch rabbits and other rodents. His accomplice follows close behind him, showing up exactly when I'm about to leave. She resembles me some, what with her talent with an archery set and her eagerness to come out, break the law, and hunt. Only, her clothes are in even worse shape than mine, as are Gale's, and she's always seemed much harder and sterner than I am. Add in the fact that her brunette hair and chocolate eyes contrast with my dirty blonde and steel blue, and that she's a year older than me.

We have three main things in common, that I'm aware of. We're both extremely stubborn. We'd both fight to death (or starve to death, whichever came first) if it meant keeping our families alive. And lastly, we both absolutely _despise_ the fact that we hunt on each others' grounds. Every game I kill is a piece of meat she loses for her mother and her little sister, Print, or Prim, or whatever her name is. But, it's the same the other way around, too. Whatever _she_ catches out here is a net loss for my father, brother, and me.

"Skeeter." She nods, in acknowledgement to my presence.

"Katniss." I growl, making sure she can hear and see with her hunter's eyes and ears, my lack of respect for her. I know she views me as no threat- a weaker hunter- because she's even handier with a weapon than I am, plus she looks at me as such a baby, even though I'm only a fifteen to her sixteen years.

"So, looks like our grand total for today comes to two squirrels, three fat rabbits, and a Skeeter-bear?" Gale chuckles to himself, Katniss smiles a little and I roll my eyes. They're not taking me seriously!

"How've you done today, Skeeter?" Katniss asks with a friendly tone, but I know better- she's trying to size up her competition: me. She wants to confirm everything she's ever thought about me not being a quality hunter.

For a second, I think about bragging about the deer- how I alone was going to eat more tonight than both their families together have in weeks- and when they didn't believe me, bring them to my marked tree a few yards away to show them the meat. In District 12, stealing's a directly punishable felony. So, I'm nowhere near worried about them taking my kill, especially since I've already claimed it as mine. Yeah. _That_ will show them!

But something quickly takes over me, telling me I'm better off having Katniss and Gale underestimate me than overestimate me.

"A few rabbits," I lie convincingly, seeming disappointed in the shortness of my gain today, compared to the older hunters in front of me. Playing the vulnerable little girl card is not anywhere near my favorite thing to do, especially since I like being confident and tough and strong, but I'm really not in the mood to hang around with these two anyway; I just want to see the look on my brother's face when he finds out- a whole deer!

Now don't get me wrong, they're not bad people, Katniss and Gale. They're not selfish, or mean, or braggers. They're just good at what they do and it's pretty much every man for himself out here, anyway. My personal feelings toward Katniss and Gale might be a little skewed. Especially since I want the rest of District 12 (or, those who won't punish me) to see me as able-bodied a hunter as these two.

"Not a bad roundup for a day like today, especially on your own," Gale tries to cheer me up and, not needing the gesture, I smile almost immediately.

"Yeah, you're right, Gale. See you guys, later!" I wave and start running again, straight back to the direction of the District border fences. I leave Katniss and Gale a bit muddled and suspicious about my high and low emotions, but it's worth-while to get to my house as soon as possible. Once I crawl under the fence back inside District perimeters (after having checked to make sure the electric fence wasn't on, of course) I set out on my search for my older brother, knowing just where I'll find him.


End file.
